Mittersill tungsten mine in Salzburg, owned by processor Wolfram Bergbau und Hütten AG on the edge of Hohe Tauern National Park, is being used as a live testbed for prototype underground hard-rock equipment. The operation trials new drilling, loading and haulage systems in complex Alpine geology while maintaining production of high-grade scheelite ore for the company’s downstream powder and carbide plants. Its vertically integrated model and willingness to host OEM prototypes give suppliers rare access to a Western European, narrow-vein, underground tungsten environment under real production constraints.

Veolia and SBM Offshore have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop floating production units (FPUs) that integrate Veolia’s advanced reverse osmosis desalination systems with SBM’s offshore platform engineering. The FPUs are aimed at supplying freshwater to offshore and coastal industrial users, including remote mining operations constrained by onshore water scarcity and limited pipeline corridors. For mine planners and process engineers, the concept signals potential new options for securing process water without large terrestrial intakes, dams or long-distance transfer schemes.

Metso will supply a gold processing plant worth about €128 million ($149 million) to Ma’aden’s Ar Rjum mine, located roughly 200 km northeast of Ta’if in Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Region. The package includes process equipment plus advisory services covering installation, commissioning and start-up, indicating a turnkey-style delivery rather than simple component supply. For project teams, the integrated support should reduce interface risk during ramp-up and streamline process optimisation in the early production phase.